


Questioning

by Romanumeternal



Series: Julia and Marlia [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Ancient Rome, Alternate Universe - Slavery, Non-Sexual Slavery, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-08
Updated: 2018-09-08
Packaged: 2019-07-08 17:56:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15935423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Romanumeternal/pseuds/Romanumeternal
Summary: Why Julia decided Hadrian - a dedicated abolitionist - should be The One for her is beyond her maid, Marlia. Awkwardness frequently ensues.





	Questioning

He leaned back on the soft couch, frowning at his tablet, considering whether it was worth writing an article of his own in response to the one he was reading. He knew what would happen if he did. There would be a fierce reaction from Rufus and his allies - something along the lines of it was all very well arguing for total abolition, but why not pass laws preventing mistreatment in the meantime? That, at least, if not popular with the voters in general, wasn't electoral poison like abolition was. And then at the next meeting, rather than doing anything productive, they'd be the same old tired arguments.

 

Verganorixius would say that maybe they should think about giving slaves information on how to escape, before everyone would point out the last thing they needed was the Vigilium kicking down their doors. Ahlos and Callia would say that it was pointless trying to abolish slavery, you had to reorder all of society; dismantle the oppressive structures that underlaid the entire Republic. With a sneer, Beio would sarcastically wish them good luck, but in the meantime, why didn't they try doing something sensible. Zaranalia would say that they should concentrate on female rights first, and that if unmarried woman had the vote, then, apparently, slavery, war and crime would vanish. Yusuf would angrily point out that, whatever they did, they could not involve Freisreich, as they were, in many ways, as bad as Rome. And so on and on it would go, egos and ideas clashing, until the meeting broke up with little decided and less achieved.

 

 

He sighed, and took another sip of his drink. It was hard to feel motivated, to be committed to the cause, when the 'cause' mostly consisted of squabbling in a dank room and handing out leaflets to uninterested passers-by. And when the alternative was Julia - beautiful, witty, charming, and endearingly enamored of him; a charming girl who, like ninety five per cent of her fellow citizens, saw nothing wrong with owning another human being. Enthusiastic sex, romantic evenings, and companionable strolls around Neapolis were exceptionally tempting compared to sitting in a room as someone brought the entire meeting to a shuddering pause to complain about the wording of the latest leaflet.

 

He lay back down on the couch, having finished his lemonade, and barely heard Marlia come in from the kitchen. She looked around, and quietly removed his glass, a waft of baking fish and herbs following in her wake from the kitchen.

 

He looked up, as always feeling slightly guilty around her. She worked her fingers to the bone, with no payment, and with the full knowledge Julia could do anything to her, and Hadrian knew he benefited from it. Gods above, what sort of abolitionist was he?

 

"Marlia?"  
She turned around, and dropped her gaze to the floor. Like any slave would, Hadrian thought, when speaking to any citizen. It was disgusting, he thought, the habit beaten (probably literally) into her over her life. Just because they had different mothers, she bowed and scraped whenever he spoke.

 

"Yes, sir?"

 

"Do you know when Julia will be back?"

 

Marlia glanced at the clock.

 

"She told me that her lecture would finish at the fourth hour, sir." For a moment, Hadrian wondered whether he heard a slight pine in Marlia's voice - her position, of course, meant that only a very basic education was needed, no matter what her mind obviously craved. Julia really only attended the Symposia because it was expected, to gain the sort of knowledge that a Patrician wife had to have to be a good conversationalist. Nothing deep, but enough to be able to participate in a conversation on politics, or philosophy, or art, or history, or literature - but, he thought, Marlia probably yearned for the opportunity which bored her owner. "She did not want an escort back, sir, so I would imagine perhaps at the fifth hour." She paused. "Do you desire refreshment, sir?"

 

"No, I'm fine. Thank you."

 

Sometimes, he wondered what Marlia thought of him. As an inconvenience? Or - worse - a gutless hypocrite, who slept with her owner, ate the meals she cooked, and wore the clothes she laundered and ironed whilst staying in the flat she cleaned. Or - and this was what Hadrian truly feared- like any other citizen, with the mixture of resentment and envy and fear he assumed most serviles felt, those that weren't so broken anything that was done to them that was not cruel was an act of supreme kindness?

 

He paused for a moment.

 

"I don't suppose you want - need - any help?"

 

He all but blurted this out, and Marlia looked at him, obviously unsure of how to react.

 

"Help, sir?" she said.

 

"Well, you have been working all day, and its not like I've done anything, and..." He trailed off, slightly uncertainly.

 

Marlia shook her head, decisively.

 

"Definitely not, sir. I hardly think my domina would approve." She bowed her head, and turned towards the kitchen, as though invoking Julia instantly resolved the subject. Perhaps, thought Hadrian, to Marlia it did. After all, she was Julia's property, nothing more.

 

"She wouldn't have to know" said Hadrian, injecting a note of levity into this voice.

 

"Still, sir. It would hardly feel right. My place is to serve, after all."

 

"You really think that?"

 

For a moment, Marlia stopped. She opened her mouth as if to speak, and then closed it again. She swallowed, looked down at the floor.

 

"Is there anything else you require, sir?" she asked, after a few moments.

 

"You didn't answer me".

 

"Are you ordering me to answer, sir?" She looked at him, almost challenging, and for a moment Hadrian wondered whether there was a trace of contempt in her gaze.

 

"I would like to know" said Hadrian, trying to sound firm and yet compassionate at the same time. Although he wasn't at all sure that, by ordering Marlia to answer him, he wasn't acting on the same level as any other citizen - or, for that matter, he thought glumly, Julia. Certainly, she'd see no especial problem with ordering Marlia to answer any question she might ask, and then perhaps even punishing her if the answer was wrong or unintentionally insulting.

 

"My domina said I was to obey you as I would her" said the maid flatly, and Hadrian winced at what that implied. "If you ordered me to answer you, sir, I will do so, and honestly."

 

 

For a moment, Hadrian was tempted. He even opened his mouth to, for the first time in years, order another human being to do his will - but then he didn't. It wasn't that he was afraid of the answer - although he was - that stopped him from asking.

 

If he really thought that Marlia was a person, then he had to accept there were some things she'd prefer not to tell him. He could order her to tell him, sure, but then he'd be even more of a hypocrite than he was. If Marlia had her own reasons for not answering, her own secrets, then Hadrian certainly wasn't going to make her reveal them. And if she was afraid of what Hadrian's reaction to her answer might be - well, nothing gave him the right to frighten the girl like that.

 

He shook his head. He was a gutless hypocrite, to be sure, but he had limits.

 

"Idle curiosity Marlia. Forget I said anything."

 

The maid smiled, and bowed her head gratefully.

 

"Gratitude, sir."


End file.
